My boat trailer has a leaf spring axle and I am thinking about changing it to a torsion spring axle. Has anybody has experience with doing this? What specifics do I need to know when choosing the right axle? What pitfalls may I incur?
Any help or thoughts appreciated.
BadBob
Polar 1910 BB 150 Johnson
“Convict Hunter”
If you ain’t the lead dog then the scenery never changes
I would recommend that you call Charleston Trailer sponsors at top of this page. They will need to know frame width, weight rating, and if you need brakes. Getting them mounted must be done with precision to avoid any abnormal tire wear. I priced it one time before and figured out that in the long run I would be better off just selling my trailer as is and buying a new trailer. When that day comes I will be buying from Charleston Trailer.
Is your current axle “clamped” on like a Road King? Or is it bolted on like a lot of them are? If it is bolted on, they will suggest you do not change to the torsion because of the amount of new holes and weakening the structural integrity of the aluminum beam. Ask me how I know…
As far as measuring for fitment, there are several sites with TONS of info. Here is a good one.
https://mechanicalelements.com/trailer-axles-101/
Take it to Charleston Trailer, and get a professional quote and advice.
Fishing Nerd
“skilled labor isn’t cheap, cheap labor isn’t skilled”
I also heard same thing as far as additional holes may weaken. I personally find that hard to believe, i am not a structural engineer but it seems to me the vast majority of the boats weight is being support by the vertical portion of the “I” the holes are in the base horizontal part. At the end of the swapping of the axels just didn’t make monetary sense for me.